Flue-scraper.



No. 7l0,344. l Patented S'pt. 30, |902. H. K. SWINSCOE & E. J. MGCARTY.

lFLUE SCRAPER. (Applieation med one. 11, 1901.

2 Sh'eets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

No. 7|o,344. haunted sept. 30.49021A H. K. SWINSCOE & E. J: MCCAHTY. nur." SGRAPEB-` (Application filed OG (z. 11, 19Q1.) (No Model.) .2 Sheets-Sheet 2 wie/35 es: 10622175115 Tn: Nonms rusas co. Priora-mmc. wnxma'rou. o. cv

UNTTED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

HENRY K. SlVINSCOE AND EUGENE J.' MCCARTY, OF CLINTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

FLUE-SCRAPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710,344, dated September 30, 1902.

Application filed October ll, 1901. Serial No. 78,343. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom, it muy concern:

Beit known that we, HENRY K. SWINSCOE.

and EUGENE J. MCCARTY, of Clinton, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elue-Scrapers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a durable and effective scraper for boilerdues, dic., adapted to conform accurately to the internal surface of a flue and to act on all parts of said surface.

The invention consists in the iinprovements which we will now proceed to describe and claim. l t

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l represents a side elevation of a flue-scraper embodying our invention. Fig. 2 represents a perspective View of the woven-wire tube which constitutes the working member of the scraper. Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1, the woven wire tube being shown conventionally. Fig. 4 represents a side elevation showing one of the tube-hold-v ing heads yieldingly supported. Fig. 5 represents an enlargedview of a portion of the woven-wire tube. Fig. 6 represents a modiiication. Fig. 7 represents another modification.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, a represents a tube of flexible expansible woven-wire fabric which constitutes the working member of our improved seraper and has open ends. Said tube is preferably composed of helical wire strands extending lengthwise of the tube, their convolutions being .interlocked, as shown in Fig. 5, and arranged so that when the tube is subjected to longitudinal compression the outer portions@ .n of said convolutions collectively constitute resilient helical ribs or ridges which are practically continuous and constitute the scraping-surfaces of the tube, said outer portions being preferably somewhat flattened, so that the radius of each is practically the radius of the tube. The inner portions 3 of the convolutions extend across the Yhelical depressions between the said helical grooves. The ends of the said wire strands are provided with eyes or loops 4. 4, which are interlocked and form selvages at the ends of the tube.

The woven-wire tube a is held and controlled by a holder which,as here shown, comprises a rod or barb and two opposed heads c c', mounted thereon, said heads detachably engaging the ends of the tube to support it and impart relative rigidity thereto, or, in other words, to make the convolutions ofthe tube resilient, said convolutions being normally limp and devoid of resilience. Each head has its inner side formed to engage one end of the tube d, an annular groove c2 being preferably formed in the inner side of each head, as shown in Fig. 3, the inner side of said groove forming a shoulder or abutment which bears against an end of the tube a, so that when one head is moved toward the other the tube a is compressed longitudinally and the said helical ribs become resilient. The marginal portions of the heads c c' overlap the ends of the tube and prevent outward displacement thereof.

In Figs. l4 and 3 the head cis shown as rigidly backed by a shoulder b on the rod b, while the head c is backed by a nut d, engaged with the threaded outer portion of the rod. The head c is adapted to slide on said threaded portion, so that by adjusting the nut d the distance between the heads c and c maybe increased or diminished. When said distance is diminished, the length of the tube a is decreased and its diameter is `correspondinglyincreased, the tube being caused to bulge outwardly. When the distance between the heads is increased, the resilience of the wire fabric of the tube a causes said Vtube to elongate, its diameter being at the adjustable and may be composed of a plurality of washers f2, placed removably on the rod as shown in Fig. 4, the removal of one or more of said washers adjusting the stop.

In Fig. 4 we show the head c yieldingly backed by a spring h, interposed between the said head and a shoulder on the rod h, the head c being adapted to slide freely on the rod. Said spring forces the head c yieldingly toward the head c', and thus yieldingly maintains a minimum distance between the two heads and a maximum diameter of the tube, so that the tube isv adapted to expand automatically to a limited extent and to conform automatically to the diameter of the flue in which it is inserted. The tube a is preferably tapered or contracted at its end portions and has an approximately cylindrical portion of uniform diameter between said tapered end portions, the tube having its greatest diameter between its ends, so that when longitudinally compressed it bulges outwardly between its ends and becomes resilient or relatively rigid. The cylindrical central portion of the tube insures a sufciently-elongated bearing of the tube on the iiue.

It will be seen that the outer portions 2 of the wire convolutions constitute practicallycontinuous fiexible helical scraping ribs adapted to act on all parts of the internal surface of a iiue and that the inner portions 3 of said convolutions constitute connections between said scraping-ribs, holding the latter in their proper relative positions and permit/ting the free passage into and out of the interior of the tube of the matter dislodged from the fine-surfaces by the scraping-ribs. The said scraping-ribs and their connections constitute a unitary dexible stru cture adapted to be applied and removed as a whole, so that the ribs can be applied and removed easily and conveniently and are not liable to be displaced. It will also be seen that the resilience of the wire members of the described woven-wire tube is such as to keep the ends of the tube closely pressed against the heads c c when said heads are separated by a space the length of which is less than the maximum length of the tube, so that any decrease in the length of said space is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the diameter of the tube, and vice versa.

The woven-wire tube a, may be supplied as an article of manufacture. The ease and con- Venience with which it can be applied and removed enable a worn-out tube to be readily replaced by a new one.

We do not limit ourselves to the described structure of the woven-wire tube, as the wire composing the tube may be interwoven in any other desired manner. The said wires may be square or rectangular in cross-section, if desired.

In FigAc we show auxiliary Scrapers o placed in the helical depressions between the helical ribs formed by the portions 2 2 of the wire convolutions. Said auxiliary Scrapers may be iexible strips of wire or other suitable material', their ends being inserted under the portions of the heads c c' which overlap the ends of the tube a. The bar b is suitably extended to form an operating-handle.

The heads which engage the ends of the wire tube may have provisions for clamping the ends of the tube, as shown in Fig. 7. In this ligure, c3 represents the outer head, the marginal portion of which is formed as a clamping member. c4 represents a complemental clamping member, which is formed as a ring and is detachably secured to the head c3 by bolts c5. The end portions of the tube are clamped between the head c3 and clamping-ring c4.

It is obvious that various other means may be employed for engaging the en ds of the Wire tube without departing from the spirit of our invention.

The helical scraping edges formed by the outer portions ormembers 2 of the wire convolutions are,as above stated,practically continuous in the sense that each of said outer portions or members bears against and is supported by the adjacent members,so that scraping edges of considerable strength are provided. The said scraping edges are corrugated, there being a recess or depression between each outer portion or member 2 and the next. This serrated form improves the cleaning or scraping action, it being a fact that a serrated` edge will scrape effectively where a plain helical scraping edge, devoid of corrugations or recesses, would not be so effective, probably because each scraping part between two recesses takes an independent hold. The open interior of the tube constitutes a receptacle for the mattei removed by the scraping edges and enables such matter to be conveniently withdrawn from the flue.

The improved scraper is double`acting that is to say, it acts equally well in advancing and in retreating.

l. A due-scraper comprising an open-ended tube of flexible woven-wire fabric, and a holder having heads detachably engaging the ends of said tube to support it and impart relative rigidity thereto.

2. A iiue-scraper comprising an open-euded tube of flexible woven-wire fabric, and a holder having heads detachably engaging the ends of said tube to support it and impart relative rigidity thereto,said heads being formed to overlap the end portions of the outer surface of the tube, and to furnish bearings or abutments for the ends of the tube.

3. A line-scraper comprising an open-ended tube of iiexible woven-wire fabric, and a holder having heads detachably engaging the ends of said tube to support it and impart relative rigidity thereto, and means for varying the distance between said heads to vary the diameter of the tube. y

4. A Hue-scraper comprising an open-end- IOO IIO

ed tube of flexible woven-wire fabric, and means for confining and holding the ends of said tube andimpartingrelative rigidity to it.

5. A flue-scraper comprising an open-ended tube of flexible, expansible woven-wire fabric, and a holder therefor having means for longitudinally compressing the tube to increase its diameter.

6. A flue-scraper comprising an open-ended tube of flexible, expansible Woven-Wire fabric, and a holder therefor having means for longitudinally compressing the tube to increase its diameter, and means for limiting the longitudinal compression of the tube.

7. A flue-scraper comprising an open-ended tube of exible wo ven-Wire fabric, the Wire members ofsaid tube being formed to present alternating helical ridges and depressions, a tube-holder having heads engaged with the ends of said tube, said heads being formed to overlap the ends of the tube, and auxiliary helical scraping members contained in said helical depressions and extending at their ends under the overlapping portions of said heads.

S. As an article of manufacture, a scraper member consisting essentially of a tube having its greatest diameter between its ends, said tube being composed of flexible wovenwire fabric susceptible of presenting, under longitudinal compression, a resilient outer surface.

9. As an article of manufacture, a tubular woven-wire scraper member composed of helical Wires extending longitudinally of the tube, and having their convolutions interlocked at their ends to form selvages, and at intermediate points to form helical scraping-ribs and open communications between said ribs, said tube being adapted to be made resilient by longitudinal compression.

l0. A line-scraper having helical scraping edges, each composed of a series of wire members assembled and interlockedto form a corrugated scraping edge, and adapted to be made resilient.

11. A flue-scraper having helical scraping edges, each adapted to be made resilient and composed of aseries of interlocked wire members each bearing against and supported by the adjacent member.

In testimony whereof we have alixed our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY K. SWINSCOE. EUGENE J. MCCARTY. Vitnesses:

ROBERT EWART, WILLIAM I-I. SoANLoN. 

